Theatre for Living – Hawthorn House by Edition Office

When it was completed in 2018, Hawthorn House epitomised Edition Office’s aptitude for balancing austerity and theatre through the medium of architecture.

Described by the studio as a “grand outdoor theatre for living”, the building is defined by two pavilions ensconced in a graceful concrete shroud that emphasises astonishing lightness through its minimal contact with the ground. The completion of its construction chapter marked the beginning of another – one that explores an ever-changing experience of habitation and its continued enrichment through the incremental encroachment of the garden.

Recently, architectural photographer Tom Ross revisited Hawthorn House to document the maturation of the garden, capturing it on film.

The tenuous accord that exists between the built and natural environment here is a kindred one. Always intended to evolve, the landscape plane “peels upwards at each title boundary to form a living garden backdrop,” explains Kim Bridgland of Edition Office. From structural feats that so closely mimic nature to the enduring capacity of native materials, the exchange that exists between the two holds infinite lessons and expressions. At Hawthorn House, the dynamic between the garden and the built structure is tangible in the mutual presence of both. A restraint in the materiality and form of the home is counterbalanced by the unbounded looseness of the landscaping, which has been curated by Eckersley Garden Architecture. Time has marched across the horizontal and vertical planes of the site, leaving its patina in stains upon the concrete, its botanical veil upon the home’s interior spaces and its evidence in the visible growth of the garden upwards and outwards. “We always wanted the entropy of the garden to lap right up and consume the house,” says Kim.

Recently, architectural photographer Tom Ross revisited Hawthorn House to document the maturation of the garden, capturing it on film. The images bring brevity to the notion of consuming that Kim speaks of, depicting the development of the landscaping and its symbiotic relationship with the house. In only a short space of time, the images detail a shifting ambiance within and without. The brutalist leanings of the architecture have been visually and sensorially tempered by the plants and trees. Like the teasing of a thread, the architecture provides momentum for the garden to respond to and interact with it. As time has passed, the landscaping appears to have unravelled, flowing over, onto and into the home. Through referencing and framing of the meandering outside views, shadow play, and light filtering, impressions of nature have become part of the interior experience.

This interplay between interior and exterior is amplified through myriad architectural gestures such as the interior floor plate, which continues uninterrupted beyond the glazed periphery of the home until it finds a craggy union with the garden. Tendrils of green appear to be reaching for the house and gaining ground as time passes – a phenomenon proven through Tom’s lens. Above, the monolithic rise of off-form concrete is shown to be coming into closer alliance with nature, as weathering sees the rough-sawn formwork boards lose their newness and accept the blemish of circumstance. The terraces contained within the concrete shroud upstairs now frame ever-so-slightly altered snapshots of three significant tree canopies on the site, preserving the views of sky and leaves, coaxing light into the sleeping and bathing areas of the home and giving the impression of “the garden flowing over the concrete canopies into the home.”

The sensitivity between the two dialogues at Hawthorn House – architecture and landscape – only reinforce its resilience. There is a relief in seeing nature allowed the freedom to take its course, especially in view of the suburban context. Amplifying this further is a “planning gesture to consolidate the home’s core, which gives the freedom to feel like you are living below the canopy of a tree,” says Kim. “A conscious decision to have a rigorous utilitarian services unit relieves the living space and declutters,” leaving the focus on light, space and nature. There is the feeling that the garden is exhaling and, in doing so, affirming the strength of its interaction with the architecture. It is a sense that only serves to clarify the original design intents – to provide a nurturing sanctuary for a growing family and for the connections between the home and the all-encompassing garden terrace to be both effortless and immersive.

The sensitivity between the two dialogues at Hawthorn House – architecture and landscape – only reinforce its resilience.

Architectural retrospective is a powerful tool. Looking back at the transition of Hawthorn House over the past few years through Tom’s lens has lent gravitas to the home by reinforcing the initial design intents. The drama of the architectural silhouette remains the theatre, while the experience of habitation is distinguished by a dovetailing of the built and natural landscapes that continues to strengthen as the garden grows.